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Stagecoaches were a favorite target for outlaws, especially those who were just “getting started” in the crime business. Until 1869, when the transcontinental railroad was completed, a stagecoach was the only form of public transportation available. If you didn’t own a horse, the only other way to get from one place to another was to walk.
Since many companies transported payroll by stagecoach,
criminals had a pretty good chance of riding away with gold dust, gold
bars, and gold coins after robbing a stagecoach. These valuables were
usually stored under the stagecoach driver’s seat in a sturdy box.
If there was nothing valuable in the box, a criminal could always take
money, jewelry, watches, or other valuables from the passengers inside
the stagecoach.
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Example of a stagecoach strongbox |
As a stagecoach traveled along a lonely road far away from any town or
village, robbers could hide among the trees on the side of the road. As
the stagecoach passed, they would come out of their hiding places, point
their guns at the driver, and order him to stop. Then they would demand
that he “throw down the box,” and they would divide up the
loot (most boxes weighed between 100 and 150 pounds when filled) and ride
away.
There was one criminal who didn’t work with a gang, and he was the most successful stagecoach robber of all time. He was known as Black Bart. Black Bart managed to rob at least 27 different Wells Fargo stagecoaches before he was caught.
In 1879, a stagecoach line in Colorado started having a
lot of trouble with robberies. The stage would sometimes carry gold shipments
between Leadville and Buena Vista, Colorado. Somehow, someone seemed to
know when there would be gold on the stage, even though this information
was secret. The stagecoach company decided to catch the thief. One day,
when the robber came out of hiding to rob the stage, some deputies were
hidden inside the stagecoach. They shot the robber. When they pulled off
the robber’s mask, they discovered that it was the wife of one of
the deputies! He was so humiliated and embarrassed, he buried her beside
the trail where she was killed instead of bringing her body back to town.
Her headstone is still there today. It says:
“My Wife – Jane Kirkham – died March 7, 1879 –
Aged 38 years, 3 months, 7 days.”
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